PARENTS’ NOTES
A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION OF THE BERMUDA SUN
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JANUARY 9, 2013
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PAGE 25
■ IMMUNIZATION
You need to protect your children from an early age Check if your child is on course with the Health Department vaccination schedule BY AMANDA DALE adale@bermudasun.bm
When it comes to protecting your child from infection and disease, it pays to keep track of their jabs. Bermuda may be a first world country with a world-class health system, but that doesn’t mean we should become complacent. It’s easy to pick up infections when travelling overseas, while visitors to Bermuda can also bring in various viruses. It therefore makes sense to protect your child from an early age, gradually building up their immune system against infection. The Bermuda Government Department of Health recommends children are immunized against polio, diphtheria, accellular pertussis (whooping cough), haemophilus influenza (HiB), measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox and hepatitis B. They should also be vaccinated against tetanus and pneumococcal (meningitis) infections, while an annual flu shot may also be recommended. Debora Oriol RN, community health nurse, said: “We recommend several different vaccines and have a schedule we follow.” Each vaccine is given as a course of booster shots, in order to build up a child’s immune system. “This aims to boost their immunity before they start school, so they are fully immunized by that time,” said Ms Oriol. Children have tetanus, diphtheria, accellular pertussis, haemophilus influenza and polio as a booster shot at age two, four and six months. Another booster shot is then given at 18 months. Then, at the age of five,
children receive another booster shot for diphtheria, polio, tetanus and accellular pertussis. As the tetanus shot is recommended every 10 years, schoolchildren also receive it at 15, in the form of a joint booster with diphtheria and accellular pertussis. The pneumococcal vaccine is administered at age two, four and six months, and once more at 18 months. A child should have their first hepatitis B shot at seven months, then at eight months and 12 months. They receive another hepatitis B shot at age 10. At age two, they should get the varicella shot against chickenpox. At 15 months a child should also receive the MMR vaccine, for measles, mumps and rubella. This is then repeated at age five and 10. Ms Oriol said: “We also encourage anyone in a high risk category, such as if you have asthma or diabetes, to get a flu shot each year. “Babies can have the flu shot after six months. We also recommend it for schoolchildren, as the winter season tends to get quite rough on school kids. “If someone gets sick we will encourage them to stay home until they are better, and to cover any coughing or sneezing, to wash their hands frequently and to use a hand sanitizer, to help reduce the spread of colds and flu. “Sometimes parents ask if it’s okay for babies to have all of these shots at once. I’m old enough to remember some children in my class in New York who had to wear braces on their legs because they were stricken with polio, so that’s something I don’t
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OUCH! It is not pleasant but necessary to give our children the protection they need. want to see happen to any other child. “And just 50 years ago there were deaths from
measles. Here in Bermuda we have ‘herd immunization’, which is when a good percentage of the popula-
tion has been vaccinated against diseases, and so most children are protected, even if they haven’t had
the vaccine. “Because we have all of these vaccinations in Bermuda you don’t see these diseases cropping up.” Ms Oriol said it is not mandatory for parents to vaccinate their children against disease but it is recommended. “If parents don’t want their child to have a vaccine, due to religious or other reasons for example, the child may still be protected because most other children in Bermuda have had it. But we don’t encourage that stance. “We still get outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and chickenpox, so when the vaccine rates drop, this can happen. “By getting your child vaccinated you’re protecting yourself and protecting others. “Also, because Bermudians travel and we also have people visiting the island, these diseases are transferable. If people aren’t vaccinated against them, they are vulnerable. “Some parents might ask, ‘Can I wait until my child goes to school to catch up on the vaccines?’ But most of these diseases are dangerous, particularly to newborn babies born without their full immunization system. “It is best to protect your child.” She added: “They will also need to have all their vaccinations in place before they head to college, as many overseas colleges require a record of students’ immunizations, so it is best to keep them all up-to-date. “We also encourage boys and girls to get the HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12, See IMMUNIZATION, page 29